CPMI Director Named as Bliss Professor of Engineering

On the 29th April, 2011, six new Bliss Professors of of Engineering were announced by the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. CPMI’s director, Prof. David Ruzic was amongst this prestigious group, which include: Stephen Boppart, Kent Choquette, Phillipe Geubelle, Jiawei Han and Albert Valocchi. It is a wonderful recognition and reward for the hard work that David has put in over the years.

CPMI would like to Congratulate David and all the other 5 Bliss Professors that have been announced.

To read the full announcement, please click here. Below is a biography on David Ruzic:

David N. Ruzic

Ruzic joined the Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering as an assistant professor in 1984. Today, he directs the Center for Plasma Materials Interactions which studies particle-surface interactions relevant to fusion power and materials processing systems through a combination of computational and experimental means.

A leading researcher in the creation of EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography sources and associated equipment for creating semiconductor chips at the 22 nm node, Ruzic has led all College of Engineering faculty in sole-PI direct industry funding, averaging over $1 million per year for the last seven years. Industry partners include Intel, Micron, Ushio (Japan), Xtreme Technologies (Germany), Sematech, ASML (Netherlands), Cymer, Energetiq, Kurt J. Lesker Co., Starfire Industries, Novellus, the SRC, and most recently, the Wrigley Company. Ruzic has three distinct funded Department of Energy grants from the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, primarily due to his leadership in the development of liquid Li cooled fusion reactor components, a concept he developed that is now employed in at least two of the five operating fusion experimental systems around the world. His work in plasma research has been featured on the Discovery Science Channel’s “Weird Connections” program; he has written two book chapters and 130 refereed publications, and has been granted four patents in the last three years.

About the Bliss Professorships

The Bliss Professor of Engineering is the result of a bequest from the late Helen Eva Bliss in memory of her father, Abel Bliss Jr., who entered the University in 1872 to study civil engineering, but was forced to leave before completing his degree. In June 1874, the University granted him a partial certificate in civil engineering. His business ventures included agriculture and real estate, and by 1929, he was a partner in the land development and oil production company of Bliss & Wetherbee. Mr. Bliss died in the mid-1930s. Miss Bliss graduated from the University of Illinois in 1911 with a degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences. Early in her career, she taught engineering at a Shreveport, Louisiana, high school, and later did clerical work with the Bureau of Aircraft Production in Washington, D.C. From 1936 until her retirement in 1962, she worked for the Washington law firm of Ivins, Phillips & Barker as an executive secretary. A portion of the Bliss bequest went to support the Grainger Engineering Library and Information Center Endowment as well as other projects for “advancing the scholastic activities of the School of Engineering.”